FBI draining pond to get to the bottom of anthrax scare

In a costly and unusual step in its hunt for the anthrax killer, the FBI began draining a one-acre trout pond in a wild Frederick County forest on Monday, hoping to find discarded biological equipment or anthrax spores on its bottom.

The project, estimated to cost about $250,000 and take several weeks, began on Monday. The search follows the discovery in the pond last winter of a plastic box that some investigators believe may have been used by the person who mailed anthrax-laced letters to media organisations and US senators in 2001. The attacks killed five and sickened at least 17.

FBI agents began searching the woods last fall as a result of a tip suggesting that a former army bioterrorism expert, Dr Steven J. Hatfill, might have thrown biological equipment in the pond. Investigators are believed to be looking for more equipment that might be linked to the anthrax letters. (LAT-WP)